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Three NSW measles cases in under a week

NSW residents are being urged to look out for measles symptoms, after a third diagnosis in less than a week

NSW residents are being urged to look out for measles symptoms, after a third diagnosis in less than a week Photo: Centres for Disease Control

A child has become the third confirmed case of measles in less than a week in New South Wales, as the state’s health department urges people to be on high alert for developing symptoms.

NSW Health has warned those who may have visited the same areas as the infected to monitor themselves for symptoms well into the middle of this month.

The highly contagious disease spreads through coughing and sneezing, and presents symptoms such as a fever and a cough, and most distinctly, a blotchy rash across the head and body.

The child, which Sydney Morning Herald is reporting as a girl under the age of 10, was visiting the Sydney area from overseas, and developed her symptoms on Christmas Eve.

The NSW health department said anyone who visited the same locations as her and her carer during the following days should familiarise themselves with measles symptoms. Those locations and dates are:

  • Chatswood Medical and Dental Centre, 7-8pm, December 27;
  • Chatswood Mall, afternoon of December 27;
  • Oakvale Winery, Pokolbin, 5-6pm, December 28;
  • Bimbadgen Winery, Pokolbin, 6.30-8pm, December 29;
  • Chatswood Medical and Dental Centre, 3-4pm, December 30;
  • And the Royal North Shore Hospital emergency department, 11pm December 31 to 1am January 1.

The department’s director of Communicable Diseases Dr Vicky Sheppeard said the time from exposure to the disease to the onset of symptoms was most commonly 10 days, but symptoms have been known to appear up to 18 days later.

Infants under 12 months of age who are too young to be vaccinated and young adults are most at risk of catching measles.

“People in the 20 to 40 year age bracket may have missed out on the full vaccination program for measles and mistakenly believe they are protected against the disease,” Dr Sheppeard said in a statement.

The other cases include a visitor from the ACT who was infectious while visiting the Central Coast and Sydney’s northern suburbs between December 26 and 30.

The person visited Thornleigh McDonald’s, Jasmine Cafe at Umina Beach and made several visits to Deepwater Plaza in Woy Woy and Umina Beach Shopping Centre.

A young adult from Sydney was also diagnosed with measles on December 29 after returning from Thailand.

The cases are unrelated.

For more information on measles, visit the NSW health department’s website.

-with AAP

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